This invention relates in general to seats having adjustable back portions and in particular to a vehicular seat having a crank and rod actuator to adjust the orientation of the seat back relative to the seat bottom.
Seats are provided to carry occupants and often include a seat bottom and a seat back. In some instances, the angle of the seat back can be adjusted relative to the seat bottom to improve occupant comfort. The seat may include a mechanism to selectively adjust the angle of the seat back relative to the seat bottom and fix the relative orientation therebetween. These adjusting mechanisms may be manually actuated or power actuated, such as by means of an electric motor. Several different power actuated adjusting mechanisms are known in the art to recline the seat back. These power actuated adjusting mechanisms may differ depending on the seat configuration or location within the vehicle. For example, some adjusting mechanisms are provided on seat configurations where the seat back is clear of a structure, such as a vehicle equipped with bucket seats.
Some seats, however, are located where a portion of the vehicle structure abuts the seat back. For example, the rear seats in some vehicles may have portions of the seat back situated against the vehicle body. Sometimes, these rear seats are equipped with two or more seat back sections that are hinged. The hinged seat back sections may fold forward to provide a flat surface for carrying cargo and may also provide access to other vehicle compartments such as, for example, a trunk. These forward folding seat backs may further include a latching mechanism to secure the seat back in an upright position to carry occupants.
Some hinged seats include a powered actuator to recline the seat back relative to the seat bottom. One such powered actuator includes a rack and pinion arrangement to move the seat back to reclined and upright positions. Because of space constraints, vehicle packaging restrictions, and durability needs, these reclining mechanisms can become complicated and expensive. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a simple and cost effective device to recline a seat back that can be installed in various locations in the vehicle. It would further be desirable to provide such a mechanism to recline a folding seat having a latched seat back.